Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Wednesday granted approval for inquiry against an officer of the city government’s revenue department for allegedly demanding bribe from the public.

The LG granted permission to conduct inquiry against Yogesh Gaur, the then sub registrar, Janak Puri, under Section 17 A of the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) 1988.

Many complaints were filed against Gaur in 2019 and 2020.

Saxena said in the interest of justice, there is a need to conduct an enquiry into the allegations made against Gaur, and the Directorate of Vigilance should be directed to process the request received from the anti-corruption branch (ACB) to do the same, after due diligence.

He also noted that there are irrefutable evidence of acts of omission and commission against the officer concerned.

The Directorate of Vigilance upon finding that the clarification in the matter related to the allegations raised by the complainant had not been provided by the revenue department and to bring out the truth, recommended an investigation/enquiry under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

It claimed the accused officer had been demanding and obtaining bribe/illegal gratification through his agents — Naveen Baniwal and Rahul — from the applicants who were coming for various registration purposes.

It was also alleged that the officer keeps documents pending and clears them only after the bribe is paid to him. Two complaints by the same person were filed on November 4, 2019 and March 19, 2020.

The second complainant alleged that he paid Rs 30,000 as bribe through Rahul for registering of mortgagee deed on his Gulab Bagh property in Uttam Nagar. The bribe was collected for not affixing the stamp of “Booked Property” with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) due to unauthorised construction.

According to the November 4, 2019 complaint, the allegation of the complainant that Gaur withholds documents without reason stands corroborated by the finding of the Committee constituted by the District West under Chairmanship of SDM (Rajouri Garden).

The Committee observed that the accused was found in possession of large number of registered documents without bonafide reason that shows his malafide intention. The DM (West) was also of the view that permission for investigation/inquiry be accorded.

The Committee’s report also said that the accused has also been found to indulge in other acts such as opening office in late hours without information/permission of the higher officer, delivering of documents without obtaining signatures of parties, which are irrefutable evidence of acts of omission and commission against him.